Hellcome back to PPTH
by Psychen-tied
Summary: House is back on the job and realizes everything can change in only a few months...


**Hellcome back to PPTH**

**House is back on the job and realizes everything can change in only a few months...**

**Hey people, this is a short one-shot... R&R **

House had been back from Mayfield for some time and he finally had gotten his medical license back. He was coping with the pain that would always keep him from having a normal life and he was also dealing with the fairly recent knowledge that Cuddy was dating someone, and someone he knew on top of it all. Like this nagging detail mattered anyway...

She was supposed to be with _him_. _He_ loved her. He had come to terms with that notion a while ago, maybe years ago, but it only registered to the ridiculously disobliging right side of his brain when she had lost Joy. No, if he wanted to be honest, he realized that he had feelings for her when she took the stand and perjured herself in that Tritter mess. Maybe even before, when she had lost it in her office, slamming the file on her desk and telling him to do whatever it took to convince Tritter to drop the charges. He had never seen her get emotional, she had looked... scared for him? She obviously cared. Something stirred inside of him on that day. He used to like her, always had, but from that event on, he had fallen for her. Hard. He never said anything. Wilson had picked up on that years before he even had had a clue. He didn't want to admit it. Not to her, not to Wilson, not even to himself.

Anyway, he lost her, and it was his own fault. She tried. She was as damaged, as insecure, as scared as he was but she took a chance. And he pushed her away. Lisa Cuddy had more courage than he had, he knew that much. She was not a commitment phobic, she failed a lot, but she never let go, she tried not to be alone, not to be miserable. She had tried dating. Despite her time-consuming job, her insecurities, she put herself out there, and he had crushed every opportunity she had had. Whenever she got close to someone, he felt threatened. Men or babies. Then she adopted Rachel. It had been hard but she had kept her and they finally bounded. Now, she was with Lucas. This terrified him because Lucas was not a loser, he was smart, interesting, and they liked each other. It was not a random moron from who knows what website, he was so goddamn real... It could actually work.

Anyway, there was nothing he could do, she was happy, and that was the end of it. He couldn't keep her unhappy and lonely for the hypothetical day when he finally would have the guts to ask her out. She had moved on. Good for her. Yeah, right!...

All he could do was focus on work, on his puzzles. That's what kept him going. But he was confronted with a problem he never had to face before. It was the first time it had occurred, it was with the first patient he had after he had gotten his license back.

"How can I help you in this beautiful morning?" he sing sang, entering the patient's room.

"Who are you?" asked the patient suspiciously.

"I'm Dr House" the diagnostician replied impatiently. "You're the patient right? Now that we introduced ourselves, and before we share our hopes and dreams, maybe we should talk about your history -and no, I don't mean Kings and wars, or how your grandparents met, but rather if you're currently under any medication, if you've been doing drugs, you know, that kind of stuff" he said flippantly.

"I'm not taking any meds, I don't do drugs and I don't drink. I work out regularly, and I'm a vegetarian" the 25-year-old patient listed.

"So you're all nice and healthy, damn you're the first perfect patient I've had the pleasure of meeting... Are you a boyscout too? I suppose you're not sexually active either..." he asked sarcastically. "Thirteen, do a blood test and check for protein level, oh, and test him for STDs" he ordered, ignoring the patient's outraged look.

"I'm on it" she said before exiting the room.

"Trust issues?" the patient asked angrily. "I want another doctor, you know, one who would believe me and who hasn't lost his mind" he said, disregarding House's shocked and angry expression.

"Oh, where did that come from?" House asked with a calm voice and a threatening grin.

"Nurses talk a lot when they think the patient's asleep" he replied, matter-of-fact.

House rushed out of his patient's room and headed to Cuddy's office. He's been avoiding her lately, but he could not just let this go.

Bursting in her office without knocking, angry, he wasn't prepared to the sight he now had in front of him: Cuddy was standing at the window, and Lucas was standing behind her, his arms around her small frame, whispering things to her ear and tenderly kissing her neck. Her head was bent to the left to allow him a better access, and a throaty moan escaped from her.

That made House feel sick, it felt like a punch in the guts, he knew about them, but witnessing it was another story. He couldn't stand seeing Cuddy with another man. Before he could get out unnoticed, Lucas turned around and so did Cuddy. The PI had an uncomfortable expression on his face and House could see the guilt on Cuddy's. She tried to hide it behind an annoyed expression, but he had seen it.

"What is it House?" she asked, taking some distance from Lucas and sitting at her desk.

"It's about my patient, he refuses treatment or anything from the 'crazy crippled doctor' and the idiot won't budge" he stated, putting his anger under that pretext rather than what he had just witnessed.

"Well, I have work to do: jealous husband" Lucas said without looking at House. "Lisa, I'll pick you up at 6:30, okay?"

"Sure" she said with a small smile. Without adding anything and without a kiss, he left her office, nodding at House before closing the door behind him.

House nodded back and turned to Cuddy: "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to disturb you and your boyfriend" he said with an impassible expression but he couldn't hold back the edge in his voice.

"That's okay, we're at work, he just brought me some coffee, he was leaving anyway" she said dismissively.

"It didn't look that way" House couldn't help the accusing tone he was using, he knew he had no right to be mad but seeing them together hurt nevertheless.

"House..." Cuddy's voice trailed off, she truly didn't know what to say.

There was nothing to say anyway, and they both knew it, so House did the only thing he could do: he deflected. He wasn't there to talk about that anyway, he came for a reason.

"Apparently, the nurses have big mouths. The patient heard about my little Mayfield holidays and isn't gonna trust me" House said getting agitated.

"Look House, for now -and I'm even surprised to be the one to suggest this but- _stay away_ from the patient. Let Foreman and Chase deal with him and do what you do best: solve this case. I'll have a talk with the staff and remind them that private stuff need to stay that way" Cuddy said in her best Dean of medicine tone.

House didn't look relieved. He was about to leave without another word but Cuddy spoke again "House, you're a brilliant doctor, and if you were not able to do the job, I wouldn't have let you take your position back as department head, okay?"

"I know" he simply stated. "But too many things have changed" the words had just escaped his lips when he realized how much they meant and what they implied. "I mean I can deal with nurses who think I'm a nutcase, that's the way it's always been and I don't care what they think, but the patients must have faith in my medical opinion" he pleaded, frustrated. "I can't... nothing's the same, it's like I died there and life went on without me" he finally confessed.

"I missed you House. Everybody did, even Brenda was bored without your daily fights" she tried to joke. "House, I would like us to be comfortable with each other, and it's gonna take time, but we'll get there. Just remember that there are people who care about you" she added, trying to get to him, trying to go past his defensive demeanor.

"Cuddy you're my boss, I'm an employee, we're not friends. Never have been" he said seriously, throwing her own words back at her.

Cuddy tried to conceal her hurt expression and without another word, he left. She watched him walk away and sighed deeply, an absurd feeling of regret and longing filling her chest. No, nothing was the same...

**Hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you thought of it...**


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